Paraffin scraper for oil wells



Filed Sept. 8, 1927 M a z N 5 z W Y U 6 mfi M 4 w M! O f n .1 w m y W A0 V6 a Y HM Wl HI B 0 4 3 Q 0 q q m a 4 a \Y \Y \Q x x k Patented July 81930 I NITE'D STATES/ GEORGE A. HELMLING, OF W HI'ITENBURG, TEXAS'ranarrru scmirnn roa OIL- wELLs L Application filed September 8, 1927.SerialNo, 218,201.

My invention relates to apparatus for I u i 1 designates a well holelined with a cascleaning well tubing and more particularly to theremoval of a cumulation of paraflin from the tubing of 11 wells. Inumping oil wells it is necessary. to frequent y remove the pump plungerfor the renewal of'cups which have become scored or otherwise impairedby sand entering the pump with the oil, or forthe replacement of brokenparts; In wellsproducing oil having a high parafiin content, the wallsof the tubing often become clogged with an accumulation of the paraifinto such an extent as to interfere with free flow of the oil and 15passage of the pump plunger through the tubing. The parafiin beingcompressible,

7 may, when accumulated on the wall of the tubing, permit the removal of\the plungerbut interfere with its replacement, or when. '23 theplunger-is returned thr ugh the tublng,

the paraffin will enter and clog the. pluiiger valve, Q

In fields producing paraffin oil, itis customary to remove the parafiinfrom the wall of the tubin after the plunger has been removed, by oring,steaming, or chemical treatment. Such removal of parafiinrequires jconsiderable time, in addition to that spent in removing and repairingthe pump plunger.

It is the object of my invention .to avoid the loss of time incident toremoval of parafiin b such means or methods and in'accomplishingthis'objeet I provide apparatus for the effective remova of paraffinfrom the 3 walls of tubing simultaneously withthe re-.

v moval of the pump plunger from the well.

t he cleaning of the tubing with separate In the accompanying drawingsillustrating the preferred form of the invention; Fig. 1 is a centralvertical section of a portion of an oil well-illustrating a tube clean-4 m thewall of the tubing with acutting member I attached to the pumpingline.

ing apparatus embodyin my invention. Fig. 21s an enlarged centralverticalsection. of a part of the tubing and a pumping line comprising,joints'of sucker rods con- 15 nected by a coupling includingmyinvention. Fig. is an enlarged Idetail' perspective aview of mytube-cleaning devic.

, Fi 1s asimilar. view of the tubeclean 5P -ing. evlce applied to a wirepumping hne.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

ing2 and containing tubing 3 which extends through'the casingandconnects with a pump barrel 4 in accordance with common practice. Thepump, indicated by. barrel 4,,includes a plunger 5, whichreciprocates inthe barrel and is suspended-from and operable by sucker rods 6 formed injoints of approximately twenty v (20) .foot lengths connected bycouplings 7 of any suitable form.

Reciprocation of the plunger incontact with the pump barrel causesgrinding of the plunger rings and cups, requiring frequent replacementandrepair, particularly when \pumping in loose formations where sandheres to the Wall of thetubing particularly I in the upper portion ofthe tubing, hue to temperature changesj-often clogging the tub ing to anextent sulficient to choke the flow of oiland necessitating removalofthe suck- I er rods in order that the tubing may be $0 cleaned "of theparafiin accumulation. In

some cases, the accumulation is suchas to-iin-i,

terfere with the removal of the rods, and, in any event, it wouldconstitute an obstruction to the return of Itheplunger. 8 In order toavoid loss of time, incident to tools or by chemical treatment, I removethe paraffin from the tubing simultaneously with removal of 'thepumpplunger, by scraping mounting the I 8, preferably by screw thread s i'sa' collar 11,

pins .10 of carrying an annular ring 12 having a beveled fupper mm 13,forming a knife edge 14, the

outer diameter of the ring being substantially that of the innerdiameter of the tubing so that the knife edge moves with close relationto the wall.of the tubing when the rods are lifted and scrapes theparaflin accumulation off the tubing into the pocket formed between thering and the coupling collar.

In order that oil may pass up the tubing or any irregularity in thetubing, and in order to firmly attach the rin to the tubing I form thecollar 11 of bar er metal and connect the ring to the collar in asuitable manner, as by tongue and groove as illustrated in the drawings.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated a modified form of the device which may beapplied to a rodw joint intermediate its ends, and which is particularlyadapted for application to a wire pumping line.

In the modified example," the coupling member is formed'of mated halvesfor clamping on a rod or'wire line. In this formaclamp portionispreferably provided as designated by 16, and a neck element 17 jointsthe clamping portion to a body portion 18 that carries the cuttingmember 12, the collar 11 being in this form preferably integral with thebody portion 18, and the members of the clamp being connected by bolts19. :Openings 2() are provided in the body member, far passage of oiltherethrough, correspondingto theports 15 and hollow interior of-thetubular body 8 shown the preferred form of the device. I "A plurality ofthe devices'will ordinarily be installed on a pump line, whether wire orrod,

' for example, every200 feet, so that measured portions of the tubingwall willbe cleaned in upward movemen of the line whereby piling up ofthe deposits onany one cutter to clog- I .the tube. will be avoided.

- The device being constructed according to my invention, and attachedto sucker rodsor a wireline as illustrated in the drawings, the rods ,orline may be operated to pper ate thepump, and oil will flow upwardly inthe-tubing, passing through the channel in the coupling or clamp body inits passage through the tubing. Parafiin will adhere to and acthe rods,removing the paraflin from the wall of the tubing and elevating it forremoval at the mouth of the tubing.

It is apparent, therefore, that with the use of myv invention a separatecleaning operation is unnecessary and the time ordinarily ,ing.laterally thereto atopposite sides of said ring to'permit passing offluid through the coupling member and around the ring.

including a coupling member for thejoints of a sucker rod, an anchorring threaded onto the outer wall of the coupling member, and ascrapingring of different degree of hardness than the anchor ring, keyed to theanchor ring and having an outwardly beveled edge for scrapingcontactwith the wall of a well tubing, the coupling member having an interiorchannel and ports inclined in the direction of flow through the tubingand opening through the wall of the coupling member at opposite sides ofthe ring to provide a passage for fluid through the coupling member.

I 3. A device of the character described including a sucker rod couplinghaving an interior channel and longitudinally spaced ports leading fromsaid channel through the wall of the coupling, and a metal ring on saidcoupling between the .ports including a mounting member anda scrapermember having an upwardly directed annular cutting edge.

4. In a device of the character described, a mounting member adapted tobe attached to a sucker line, and a scraping member keyed tothe'mounting member comprising a metal ring having an upwardly directedannular peripheral cutting edge for contact with the inner wall of awell tubing, the mounting member having channels to provide passages forfluid between the portions of the tubing above and below the scrapingmember.

/In testimony whereof I'affix mysignature. v -GEORGE A. I-IELlWLING.

- cumulate on' the wall of the tubing between 1 J .the scrapermembersduring the pumping operation, but when the rods are pulled toremove the plunger :for repair orreplaceinent of-parts, t e scraper ismoved upwardlywith 2. A device of the character described, inl

